More Than 50% of Earth’s Population Faces Water Shortages

A global team of environmental experts has developed a computer model showing that more than 50% of the world's population struggles with limited access to clean drinking water. Their findings are detailed in the journal Science.

In the same issue, Rob Hope from the University of Oxford has written a Perspective article explaining the standards for an area to be deemed as having safe drinking water and discussing the team's recent efforts on this topic.

Previously, it was estimated that around 2 billion people lacked access to safe drinking water. This new research, however, suggests that the true figure is over double that amount.

Safe drinking water means that people have access to clean water whenever they need it, right at their location, without having to travel. Additionally, the water must be free of harmful substances like bacteria or toxic chemicals.

The researchers used environmental and survey data from nearly 65,000 households worldwide to build their simulation. They created maps for 135 countries to show where people have access to clean drinking water. By comparing these maps with data from UNICEF, they estimated that 4.4 billion people, which is more than half of the global population, lack safe drinking water.

The study found that the majority of those without access to clean water live in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia. The main obstacles to accessing safe water include contamination and insufficient infrastructure. For example, about 650 million people in parts of Africa live in areas without any water delivery services.